The Ulric Livingston Ancestors: Libercant dit Libersans dit Libercan dit Libersan dit Liberson dit Laviolette

This is my attempt to uncover the ancestors of Ulric Livingston, husband of Helen Langevin. Ulric was born in 1890, wed Helen in 1917 and died in 1977 (some of this information may be found in 2012 blog posts). I have uncovered Ulric's ancestors as far back as 1613. Hang on for the ride through the roller coaster ride of surname versions recorded by priests, notaries and fellow genealogists.

WARNING:  If you focus on the number of surname changes, it will drive you insane! It is disturbing that the three main sources of my research, Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection) 1608-1890; Quebec, Vital and Church Records Drouin Collection 1621-1799, and the University of Montreal's PRDH (La Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique) database altered the surname several times.  Doreen was correct to attribute these alterations due to illiteracy amongst the colonists and parish priests as it was a common practice to spell names phonetically.

Ulric Livingston was born to Joseph 

Leonard Libercan, a soldier in the French army led by M.Duplessis under King Louis XIV, was born about 15 June 1671 to Guillaume Libercan and Marie Louise Madelaine _____  in the parish of Rasa in Perigueux, Periogord, France (strangely her last name was omitted from the parish records). Guillaume and Marie were married before 1672 probably in France (I cannot locate details of their lives and their ancestors prior to this data).

Based on a letter written to Doreen's brother Bernie dated 4 Nov.1985, Doreen briefly described her 6 week journey to Europe, including the Perigord region, that year. She planned on returning to Europe for 6 months, but I am uncertain if she had the opportunity to do so. Here's an excerpt from her letter which captures her excitement of the genealogical hunt for the truth:

We know what remains for us to see in the Perigort region, thanks to a French family who befriended us shortly after our arrival in Periguex. And, we have it in mind to spend six months in Europe our next time there, so we can have an in depth study of that beautiful and historical region. Mr. Le Cerf has promised to assist me in my genealogical studies. We didn't meet owing this to his leaving Paris the following day on which we rang him. I'm elated by his generous response and have written, at his request, giving him a clear picture of where he can research on our behalf. I had only one hour in the Periguex Archives where (Leonard's) the records of Razac of 300 years ago are now. Holding the original records and thrilling experience for me - (the dust made my nose run though). There's a record of every soldier who left the Perigord region for Canada.

Leonard was posted to New France to protect the new colonists from attacks by First Nations. He wed Marie Anne Louise Coron (born 14 May 1676 in Montreal to parents Jean and Michelle Lauzon) on the 19 March 1699 (the marital records show Leonard's last name as "Liberson" in the Quebec Geneaological Dictionary of Canadian Families, Tanguay Collection, 1608-1890 and thus, I have added it to the list of "dit"s in the title of this series of postings).

Here is the record of Leonard's marriage according to the PRDH (La Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique) database:

Family

of

GUILLAUME LIBERSAN

and

MARIE LOUISE MADELEINE

Marriage: before 1671-12-31 Lieu inconnu

("Lieu inconnu" loosely translates to "unknown location")

Sex	Birth	Marriage	Death	First name of the child
	Place	Place	Place	Name of the spouse
m	1671-06-15	1699-03-19	1751-11-29	LEONARD
	France	Montréal	St-Laurent	MARIE ANNE LOUISE CORON

Tragically, Marie Anne Louise Coron died less than one year later on the 10th day of February 1700 in Pointe-aux-Trembles, QC, east of Montreal, and thus, they had no children.

Three years later, Leonard remarried. He wed Jeanne Beaudri on 23 July 1703 in Montreal. Jeanne was born on 8 September 1674 at Riviere des Prairies and she was one of 5 children born to Antoine Baudri of Chemiere-en-Charnie, France and Catherine Guillard of St.Laurent, Paris, France. 

Below is the marital registry of Leonard and Jeanne from the PRDH database, which contains the wedding attendees and a small notation about Leonard's mother Marie Louise Madeleine at the bottom. It loosely translates "the name of the mother's family of the spouse has been left blank". Also, please note that Leonard's last name has now been recorded as "Libercan", the same spelling as his father's name.



According to Doreen, Leonard became a church warden of the Ste. Genevieve parish built in 1741, the first parish in Montreal as pictured below. He died 29 November 1751 in St.Laurent, QC and he was buried the following day.

The family record of Leonard Libercan of 23 July 1703 in the PRDH database adjusts Leonard's and Jeanne's names as the following:

Family # 9206

of

LEONARD Libersan LAVIOLETTE Father: GUILLAUME Libersan Mother: MARIE LOUISE MADELEINE

and

MARIE JEANNE BEAUDRY LEPINETTE Father: ANTOINE BEAUDRY LEPINETTE Mother: CATHERINE GUYARD

Marriage: 1703-07-23 Montreal

Sex	Birth	Marriage	Death	First name of the child
	Place	Place	Place	Name of the spouse
m	1704-10-27	1731-07-09	1779-11-15	ANTOINE
	Montreal	St Lawrence	Ste-Genevieve (Pierrefonds)	ANNE MARIE JEANNE with DEVOYAUX LAFRAMBOISE
m	1706-06-28		1706-07-13	CHARLES
	Montreal		Montreal
m	1707-07-13	1730-10-30		FRANCOIS MARIE
	Montreal	St Lawrence		with MARY MAGDALENE RICHER LOUVETAU
m	1709-03-06		1733-02-05	CHARLES
	Montreal		St Lawrence
f	1711-02-05	1731-10-08	1795-03-11	ELIZABETH MARIE ISABELLE
	Montreal	St Lawrence	The Cedars	with JEAN BAPTISTE LEROUX ROUSSON
m	1713-03-07		1713-03-11	LEONARD
	Montreal		Montreal
x	1713-03-07		1713-03-08	ANONYMOUS
	Montreal		Montreal
f	1714-04-03		1788-06-01	Marie Josephe
	Montreal		Montreal General Hospital
f	1716-05-16		1716-07-03	ANNE MARIE
	Montreal		Montreal

PLEASE NOTE:  The above record contains data which is slightly different than Doreen's research, but I believe that this primary source, the PRDH, to be true and more accurate. Also, please note that Leonard and Jeanne had four children die before they reached the age of 2 years old.

Now, let's follow Leonard's and Jeanne's first children:  Antoine Libersan Laviolette.  It is possible that Antoine was born on September 28, 1704 as stated by Doreen and then baptized on October 27, 1704 as claimed by the PRDH.

Antoine Libersan Laviolette wed Marie Jeanne Anne Devoyaux Laframboise on 9 July 1731 in St. Laurent, QC.

According to the PRDH database, here is a list of their children:

1. Marie Genevieve born 2 January 1735 in St. Laurent, QC and wed Jacques Plouf on 1 March 1756 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), QC.
2. Francois born 10 October 1736 in St. Laurent, wed Marie Angelique Amable Demers Dumais on 3 May 1757 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), and buried at the same location on 24 February 1790.
3. Marie Madeleine born 9 February 1738 in Montreal, and wed Francois Richer Louvetau on 20 January 1755 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
4. Antoine born 18 August 1739 in St. Laurent and died the next day.
5. Marie Louise born 12 April 1741 in St. Laurent and died at the age of 12 on 15 December 1753.
6. Jean Baptiste born 11 April 1743 in St. Laurentand died exactly 4 months later.
7. Jacques born 8 September 1744 in St. Laurent and wed Marie Suzanne Amable Lahaie Hibernois on 8 April 1766 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
8. Marie Marguerite born 23 June 1746 and wed Jacques Philippe Fauvel Bigras on 21 February 1764 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
9. Marie Catherine born 27 June 1748 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), and died two years later on 28 August 1748.
10. Marie Anne born 26 September 1749 in St. Laurent, wed Jean Frederic Harl on 17 January 1785 in Montreal and died 8 December 1794.
11. Marguerite born on 6 July 1751 in St. Laurent and died 11 days later.
12. Marie Louise born on 11 February 1754 in St. Laurent and died 24 March 1757 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds).
13. Marie Catherine born 11 August 1758 in Ste. Genevieve (Pierrefonds), wed Joseph Giboin Tranquille on 16 February 1778 and died 1 April 1785 in Montreal.

Next posting: The Ulric Livingston Family PART TWO: Francois and Marie Angelique Amable Demers Dumais 1757 to Ulric's Parents